1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to blogging, and specifically to the use of mobile devices for blogging.
2. Related Art
In the last decade, mobile devices of all kinds have proliferated all over the world. Some of them are small tiny cellular phones, others are more powerful and flexible smartphones, some are small electronic tablets and tiny netbooks, etc. All of these are very convenient to use.
The Internet is a very powerful communication means and quite often, the mobile devices available in the world can employ the Internet for communication. Most of them also employ the telecom networks (such as cellular networks) for communication. Some of the mobile devices can use both the Internet as well as the telecom networks for communications.
People using mobile devices such as mobile phones often find a camera embedded in the mobile phones and take pictures. Some of them are also capable of emailing these pictures to friends. Of late, some mobile devices have become capable of displaying digital videos and movies. Some of them are also able to capture small digital video clips.
Quite a few websites make it possible for a user to use his laptop or PC to upload photos to the websites. Such photos are typically uploaded to an album online and sometimes shared with friends. The YouTube service on the Internet makes it possible for a user to record a digital video and upload them from their laptop or personal computers to the YouTube server. Such videos can also be shared with friends.
There are currently no generally available means by which a group of people can simultaneously participate in creating a blog on a sports event that they are currently participating in, or witnessing, or for a outdoor entertainment event that they visit. There are no easy to use methods by which all the people watching a game can share their observations while they are viewing the game, especially if they have to share photos, observations, share videos, etc. There is no available solution currently in the market by which these players (in sports events) and spectators can make comments about a local sports match they are playing in or witnessing, while that match is going on. For example, if a youth soccer league match is being witnessed by several parents and other spectators, there is no easy way in which all of them can take pictures and share them among themselves and with others (such as their friends at schools, etc.). In addition, there are no easy means by which the players, spectators, etc. witnessing a match can share their observations regarding the match with others. What most people do is to take photos on their cameras or cellular phones and save them for subsequent (quite often after a few weeks) upload to online albums. Some of them, much later at home, sometimes several days later, upload it to a website album. They then send an email to their friends (assuming they know their email addresses, or some form of contact information, which is often not the case) asking them to view their online album. This is not only a laborious process but also time consuming and inconvenient. The recipients of these emails have to often use their laptops to read the emails and then visit the online album whose link may have been provided in the email. Quite often these albums contain several photos and the viewer does not know the details of each photo and does not know the context of individual photos.
There are currently no easy means by which a youth athlete can as create a skills portfolio. It would be useful if a youth athlete or sportsman could maintain a skills portfolio, such as the ones painters and other artists do, when they paint a number of canvases and carry them physically in their physical portfolios, so that they can show it to others, as needed. There are no easy ways in which a youth athlete can make such a portfolio of his/her sports skills for sharing.
Most young people are familiar with Facebook accounts and twitter services and often use them. But beyond following some tweets provided by celebrities and their favorite stars (such as Madonna), most young people don't find Twitter useful. Most young people in urban areas have access to computers and laptops and use them to maintain a Facebook account, through which they post their photos, and details of their hobbies, habits, personal lifestyles etc. Facebook pages are used to talk about their personal lives, share information about their idiosyncrasy, etc. In addition, Facebooks pages are full of personal details that are often not flattering, and are far from being professional.
In view of the foregoing considerations, it is clear that there is a need for an improved system and method that is capable of facilitating easy blogging by a multitude of people/spectators witnessing a sports event or some other public event. There is a need for such spectators to share comments and observation regarding that particular event. There is a need for a solution wherein a user can generate sports blogs in an easy and automated fashion, and also to use such blogs, or some portion thereof, to share information with others. These things don't exist today. There is need for leveraging such blogs to create and manage skills portfolios, but such facilities do not exist today.